Turning Back Time
by tootsiepop23
Summary: When a spell goes awry and Hermione is whisked away into the past, there are many questions to be answered: where will she end up? Who will she meet? How will she make it home? And more importantly: will she want to?
1. 01: Misread

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter One: Misread__  
_

"Ron, I need you to focus," Hermione snapped, brushing her bush of brown hair behind her ear. "The only way we can do this is if you're paying attention!"

She sat down in the cauldron, feeling the cold, mushy liquid encase the lower half of her body. "If I could I would cast this spell on myself but the directions call for someone else."

"Then why not ask Harry to do this? He's better at potions than I am," Ron said, fiddling with the paper in his hands.

"One year of stealing tips from Professor Snape's old textbook doesn't make him a potions master." Hermione spat, still upset that he had so recklessly followed the directions of some mysterious Half Blood Prince, even if it did end up being a Hogwarts professor.

"Yeah, yeah," Ron said, swallowing hard. "But why are you doing this anyway? I've never known you to do spells with a selfish motive."

"I have my reasons. You must know I do. Just read the spell," her reply came.

"Which one, again?"

"The one in the upper right hand corner," she closed her eyes and bent at the waist to conceal her body completely beneath the lip of the oversized cauldron.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice cracking. This was the most difficult spell he had ever been called on to perform. To say he was nervous was an understatement.

"Just read the spell!"

"_Temporis reverto!"_ Ron yelled. As she heard his last word Hermione screamed "No!" Her words reverberated around the room but when Ron peaked inside the cauldron she was nowhere to be found. 


	2. 02: When Am I

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter Two: When Am I_

Hermione whirled through a dense, black darkness, spinning around and around through the nothingness. _Stupid, stupid Ron!_ She thought to herself. _Reverto? _

It was supposed to be reverso. It was supposed to make time move backward for what was inside the cauldron. How would _reverto_ change the spell? A fear crept into her heart and started to spread throughout her body, leaving her entire being completely paralyzed.

One eye peaked open and she saw a light moving toward her incredibly fast. Was it moving toward her or was she moving toward it? She couldn't tell. She couldn't feel anything anymore but something inside her said that the light was good.

Soon it engulfed her entirely and she felt warmth spread over her body and something solid beneath her feet. The light was so intense that she shut her eyes and shielded them with her arm. When she opened her eyes again she saw a familiar scene. She was outside Hogwarts castle.

What had happened? Students were milling about as usual but something was different. She set off across the grass toward the castle and passed by faces that seemed oddly, distantly familiar but no one she knew by name. She had to get back to Ron. She had to get to the dungeons.

For some reason her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she could barely breathe. She made it into the castle with no problem but ran into a group of Gryffindors she had never seen before.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she moved past them. They too seemed oddly familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. She raced down the stairs, jumping down numerous at a time. Her hair was whipping behind her as she dodged oncoming Slytherin traffic. She turned a sharp corner and almost ran into another group. She didn't remember this many students being in the hall when she and Ron head started the potion but perhaps she had been out for a while.

"Ron?" she called as she entered the third dungeon to the left. She was surprised to see that the room held not Ron but was filled with potions storage. She headed out into the hall to double check that she had entered the right dungeon. _Nope. No mistake. Where is Ron?_

Hermione took a deep breath and decided to head up to the Gryffindor common room. Things seemed different as she headed up the stairs. Portraits seemed to be in the wrong places. Suits of armors seemed less disgruntled than usual. _Filch must be doing some rearranging or something_.

When she made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she hit a road block. "Incorrect password," the obese woman in pink uttered.

"What do you mean wrong password? It was only changed just this morning to..." Hermione protested, but someone interrupted.

"Don't worry about it," said a voice from behind her. "Friend of mine always loses track of the passwords as well. Erumpent."

She turned to see yet another face that she couldn't pair to a name just yet but that seemed so familiar. "Thanks," she said as she stepped into the common room. He followed close behind her.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel like I've met you before," he said, brushing brown hair out of his eyes. "The name is Sirius. Sirius Black."

"Is this a joke?" she said, backing away from him, inching toward the fireplace.

"No," he didn't look away from her eyes, even as they shot around the room, searching for a sign of Harry or Ron. "Why would that be a joke? I know my reputation precedes me but..."

"Sirius Black is dead. Who are you?" She said, confused and a little nauseous.

"I assure you I'm very alive. Are you okay?" He seemed genuinely concerned. "Have you hit your head recently? Maybe a potion or a spell gone wrong?"

_You have no idea_. "Okay. I'm going to ask you a question only you would know. I mean that only Sirius would know. What do you friends call you?"

"What?" he didn't miss a beat. "What are you talking about? Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

"What do you friends call you?" he furrowed his brow. "Just as I thought. Who are you?"

She pulled her wand from beneath her cloak and put it up to his neck. _Is this right? He does look a good bit like Sirius. Bloody hell. _"I'll only ask this one more time. Who are you?"

There were creaks as a group of students headed down the stairs. "What've you done now, Sirius?"

Hermione's eyes flitted over his face and her arm dropped when she saw what was most definitely a young James Potter. She could tell because he looked so much like Harry it was astounding. "When the hell am I?"


	3. 03: What is Required

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter Three: What is Required_

"I didn't do anything," Sirius said, laughing. "This girl comes in here telling me that I'm dead and that I'm not Sirius. I think she's had a fall or something."

"I'll vouch for him on one of those accounts," James Potter said, smiling, "He most certainly isn't dead. As to whether or not he's Sirius. Well, he has been since I've known him but these things change from time to time so one can never be too sure."

"Funny, James," Sirius said with a huge grin. Hermione hadn't fully recognized the face at first. She was so used to seeing him bone thin and aged from years in Azkaban. It had never occurred to her how handsome he must've been in his youth.

"As my esteemed colleague here mentioned, I'm James," he extended his hand. She hesitated a moment before grasping it. She wanted to say _I know_ but what would that accomplish? Then again, unless this was a very vivid dream it would take some serious work to get her back to when she belonged. "And you are...?"

Well that was an odd question. It shouldn't be though. "Hermione."

"Never seen you around here before, Hermione. Nice to meet you," Sirius shrugged. Hermione knew her only hope of finding out what year it was and how to get home was to stay with them.

"You, too," Hermione commented.

"Guess we'll see you around. We're about to head down to get something to eat," James added. "As soon as Remus gets finished prepping himself. I feel like he's going to come down with something soon."

It was a note only Sirius was supposed to catch but Hermione nodded her understanding as well. James disregarded her nod and led Sirius out of the common room.

With a great sigh, Hermione sat at one of the couches by the fireplace and thought hard. What year was it? How can you casually drop that into conversation? "Hi, sir, I've had a head injury. Mind telling me what year it is?"

Suddenly she felt very ill. She had no idea how to reverse the effect of Ron's spell. Surely such a mistake wasn't in any textbooks because it is assumed that you're not a great bumbling idiot if you're doing high-level magic. If she had to stay for any length of time, where would she live? "Excuse me headmaster but I'm a student at this school such-and-such years from now and I need to place to stay until I can figure out how to get myself out of the past. Thanks a bunch."

Headmaster. That was it! If James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are in school then Dumbledore must be here. Surely Dumbledore would believe her. For a moment she thought on that. Before she tells anyone what's going on, she needs to see if she can sort this mess out herself.

_So I need some place to stay that's secret. No one can know about it but it needs to be in Hogwarts for me to be safe. Where could it be? _Hermione got up and started pacing. For a moment she thought of knocking out a fellow student, stealing some hair and turning herself into someone else but that would 

be too risky. Right? The other student could be found. She wouldn't know anything about that person. And polyjuice potion takes too long to brew. What would she do in the meantime?

Then it came to her. _The room of requirement_. So far as she could tell, no one had used the room of requirement between the time that Voldemort attended Hogwarts and when Dumbledore's Army had secret meetings there. "Perfect!" she shouted to herself.

Behind her a mumbling, anxious, sickly looking Remus Lupin scurried by and out of the common room. The Shrieking Shack would certainly have a special guest tonight.


	4. 04: Meddling

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter Four: Meddling  
_

Hermione stood watch close by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet, waiting for the seventh floor to empty. She stood there, pretending to be studying the tapestry in great detail. After half an hour, the floor was clear and she walked by the blank wall three times thinking to herself _I need a room to live in that no one can see._ She hoped with all her heart that it would happen and soon enough a door appeared from the wall. She sneaked inside, making sure no one saw her disappear.

When she entered the room she was overwhelmed by the power of magic. With a simple thought she had brought to life this amazing room. A large bed with dozens of pillows sat innocently in the corner. There was a small, quaint kitchen tucked in another of the corners across from what appeared to be the door to a bathroom.

She went around the room, exploring it all with ease, and found a pantry filled to the brim with food, cabinets with dishes, a small closet with a few garments that looked to be about her size and enough toilet tissue and soap in the bathroom to get her through World War III. Most importantly, in the drawers beside the bed she found a bag with parchment, quills and ink in it. "Thank you," she said aloud, as if the room would hear and appreciate her gratitude.

She sat on the bed and looked around. Not until that moment had she realized just how tired she was. Alas, she had no time for a nap. Perhaps _later_. She smiled at the room for a moment before heading out.

As she entered the hall, she could see the sun was about to set. She didn't have much time left in the day. Walking through the halls, she noted again how different the castle looked in the smallest of ways. A rug here, a cupboard there. When she passed by the trophy room she noticed what she guessed to be 20 years of awards missing from their homes to-be.

She ducked into the library and looked around. Judging by the number of people there, she noted it must not be any time near finals. The stacks were close to deserted. She set her things down at a table and headed to the section about time travel.

Three hours later, she found herself completely surrounded by books and nowhere near an answer to her predicament. The books covered very little about time travel outside of time-turners and hopping into peoples' memories. Time reversal was mentioned but never jumping entirely to another decade. _Great_, she thought, _I've found a problem that centuries of magical history have never run into before. That makes me feel great. _

"This is why I haven't met you before," a voice called. Sirius stepped into view from behind a particularly high stack of her books. "You're one of those studious types."

"Bug off," she mumbled. Hermione had read too many books on the negative impacts of meddling in the past to want to write one of her own.

"Not saying it's a bad thing. It's a very attractive quality in a woman," Sirius flashed her what she thought was a rather unconvincing grin.

"Maybe you should pick up a book now and again," she said.

He reached over to one of her stacks of books, picked one off the top, looked at the cover and set it back down. "Wow. You're right. I feel loads smarter."

"Leave me alone, please. This is very important."

"Important, eh? Time travel? Trying to figure out how to go back in time to our first meeting and _not_ tell me I'm dead and not myself. Really puts a damper on our relationship." He nodded in a condescending sort of way.

"Relationship? We have no relationship. Now go," she said. She needed him gone. She needed to concentrate. She needed to stop being so distracted by the light in his eyes. A light she had never seen in his older self.

"You don't know anything about me, lady," Sirius said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know more than you'd think. Now leave." She pointed emphatically toward the door.

"Oh, really?" He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "Enlighten me, then."

"No. I'm busy. Go. Or I will." She stood and looked down at his smug face.

"You're quite the fire-breather. I guess I'll see you around," he said before winking and walking away. She shuddered for a moment. Too many things could go too wrong if she continued to bump into him. She _had_ to be more careful in the future. She collected her things, grabbed a few of the books off the tallest stack and headed for the door.


	5. 05: Siriusly?

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter Five: __**Sirius**__ly?_

"Why the sudden interest in the library, Padfoot?" James whispered under his breath as they headed through the hallways.

"Just... checking out some books on Quidditch," he said, trying to seem cool.

"Come now, I've seen you in there staring at that girl. What's going on between the two of you?" James smiled a knowing smile and cast a glance at his friend.

"Nothing. I'm intrigued is all. I've never seen her around before. She seems... nice enough. She's serious about finding something in that library, too. She's always surrounded by the same mountain of books," he shook his head. "I've never been that dedicated to anything."

"Well have you gone and talked to her, again, yet?"

"Just once. She brushed me off pretty quick but I could sense something fiery there." He laughed aloud for a moment.

"Not used to being brushed off so handily by the opposite sex, eh?" Remus joined in. Peter let out a loud, weird noise that may have been a laugh. "That's tough."

"He hasn't been turned out, yet," James said, stopping outside the library. He put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Go ahead, mate. Go talk to her."

"Shove off, all of you," he grumbled before heading into the library. She had been here every time he had come in over the last week. When he saw her out of the corner of his eye, she was slumped over. Clearly she needed some sleep. What could possibly mean this much to her?

Something glinted on her face. A tear. She most definitely needed some cheering up. He headed her way and plopped down on her table; the same one she'd occupied for a whole week, now. "Tears, fireball? I'd've never guessed it. No worries. So you've hit a rough spot. You've been through these books four times each. I don't think reading them a fifth time will make them spit out the answer you want."

Hermione wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her robe. "You don't understand. This is..." she paused for a moment and let out a defeated sigh. "I have to fix this."

"Well ask me. Tell me. I might know something," he shrugged and gave a small smile.

"You couldn't possibly. If the great masters of magic can't answer my question, maybe there is no answer. Maybe I'm stuck here," she said the last part barely above a whisper.

"I couldn't possibly understand?" Sirius mocked offense for a moment. "Try me. At the very least maybe I could help you find the answer. I've discovered secrets of Hogwarts the headmaster hasn't yet figured out."

He was proud and puffed out his chest, but she couldn't help but snort. "Right."

"I could show you things. You could've passed through a hallway hundreds of times and only I would know how to make..."

"I have a tough time believing that. I could probably show you a thing or two," she showed a devious smile.

"Oh, really? Now I'm intrigued." He felt a fire build up near his heart. Quite an interesting turn of events. Someone who thinks they know more about this school than the marauders. "How much do you know?"

"I reckon I know as much as you plus a few extra tidbits," she stood up. He could almost hear her knees creak. She had practically lived in this library. Already she had been there for hours, judging by the tired look in her eyes.

"Not a chance," he quickly dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

"All _seven_ tunnels out of grounds to Hogsmeade," she whispered lightly so as not to allow any prying ears to hear her.

His eyes opened wide. "Okay. Perhaps I've misjudged you."

"No worries. People seem to do that a lot," her eyes got a little misty and she seemed to get lost in the distance between them.

"In that case, I have a few people I'd like to introduce you to. They'll love to meet a fellow... well, they'd love to meet someone that holds similar knowledge to that which we possess." He stumbled a little over his words but found them in the end. "That is, if you can spare a few moments from your books."

She hesitated and crinkled her brow. "I suppose... not too long, though."

"I'll have the librarian let you know if someone writes a book you _haven't_ read yet in the fifteen minutes it takes us," he smiled wide and led her out of the library.

"So have you been hiding in the library all this time?" Sirius asked as they turned a corner. Hermione could tell they were headed for the Gryffindor common room.

"All what time?"

"You're much too old to be in your first year here," he noted. "But I don't think I've seen you around anywhere."

"Maybe your head has been too high in the clouds."

Ouch. "Fair enough. Here we are. Erumpent." She headed into the common room very quickly. Odd. "Alas. Home sweet home."

"Ah, I see you've pried her away from her books at long last," James said, calling them over from the corner. He smiled at his group of friends.

"Yes. And I have completely misjudged our new friend, here," Sirius noted. "Seems she is aware of many of this castle's lesser-known attributes."

"Is that so?" James' smiled faltered only for a moment. "Interesting. And how might one come about this information?"

"How is not important, James. She claims she may know a bit more than we do," Sirius sat in a chair and leaned back, waiting to be enlightened.

"If I show you something you deem interesting about this castle, something you didn't know prior to my showing you, will you help me with something?" Hermione's eyes were pleading with them.

"Sure," Sirius answered for them.

"Oi, we haven't been properly introduced. How rude of my friend," Remus said, smiling. He reached out his hand, "Remus Lupin. And this here is Peter Pettigrew."

"And that over there is Lily Evans. She's hot for me," James said, loud enough for the attractive red head to overhear his comment.

"Pig!" she answered, exiting the common room.

"I see the attraction," Hermione answered, nodding with a smile. "Have to be her off with a stick, do you?"

"She's got a sense of humor. I like this one." Remus barked with laughter. "Now show us this secret of yours."

She stood with a smile and led them quickly to the seventh floor. The four friends mumbled between themselves but the trip was otherwise silent. After checking the hall for stragglers, she walked by the wall three times, concentrating hard and the door appeared.

"Alas! Salazar Slytherin's missing door! They said it didn't exist but I knew..." but James punched Sirius in the stomach before he could finish.

They filed in and looked around. "A room. Okay. A bedroom."

"A bedroom stocked well with food. A bedroom that no one can find. Because this room can transform into whatever you need." She folded her arms across her chest.

"Prove it." Sirius said, ever-skeptic.

"What do you want right now?" she asked any of the four. Sirius choked back a snide comment.

"How about a room to practice Quidditch," James suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah, cause James needs a little bit of practice. That last game against Hufflepuff was a mockery, mate. Took you well near two hours to find the snitch," Remus joked, patting his friend on the back.

Shaking off the odd sight of a young Remus Lupin joking with_ anyone_, they followed her back into the corridor. She walked by the wall three times thinking hard about a practice room for Quidditch. The door appeared and, this time, when they walked in the floor was grass and three large Quidditch goals stood at the far end of the now elongated room. An open trunk nearby sported the quaffle, two bludgers and the case for a twittering snitch. The walls were painted light blue with clouds to emulate the sky outside. A rack of ten broomsticks lined either side of the field.

"Oi," Sirius said, bending down to feel the grass. "How have we never found this before?"

"You can only find it by walking by the wall three times, thinking hard about whatever you need. From there, the room does whatever is required," Hermione stood there; proud that she had shown them something spectacular.

"Do you know what we could do with this room?" James shouted to his friends. "The possibilities... oh the possibilities!"

"So... you'll help me, right?" Hermione asked. They nodded.

"Bloody hell, I'll help you find the Chamber of Secrets and Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem for this..." Sirius said with a smile. He wasn't quite sure as to why she started laughing hysterically but he shrugged it off.


	6. 06: Gone

**Turning Back Time**  
_Chapter Six: Gone_

"So, come on, out with it," Sirius urged. "What's this thing you need help with?"

Suddenly her chest became very tight. She couldn't tell them everything. She just couldn't. "Well, I need you to help me steal some books from the restricted section of the library."

She waited a beat and nothing was said. Sirius, Remus, James and Peter looked at each other and each laughed. For a brief moment, Hermione could see a little of their respective animals (voluntary animagi or not) in each of them. It almost sounded like a pack of animals howling. "What's so funny?"

"A book? Seriously?" James doubled over with laughter. "She showed us this... so we would help her steal a book?"

"I feel as though you're at a disadvantage in this deal," Remus said.

Peter quieted for a moment and furrowed his brow. "Why would you need to steal them?"

"What?" Hermione asked. "What do you mean? I couldn't just ask..."

"Well, couldn't you just ask this room to have copies of the book in it?" Everyone in the room turned dead silent.

"Well I..." Hermione stopped and thought hard. How had this not occurred to her before? Just ask the Room of Requirement for the books? She relied on it for everything else, how had she never thought to ask it for the books? It would have saved her loads of time going to and from the library.

Sirius gave Peter a slap on the back. "Whoa. Lapses in intelligence punctuated with pure genius. That's all you are, Worm--"

James didn't miss a beat and interrupted his friend coolly. "So what do you want our help with instead?"

Hermione shrugged. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. It seems so simple. I feel like an idiot."

"No worries, fireball. We'll just owe you one or something," Sirius said. His friends nodded their agreement. "Until then, I feel as though we owe you a night of fun and relaxation."

"I really should get back to--"

"I doubt whatever you're looking for in those books is a matter of life and death," he waved the thought out of his thoughts with a flick of his wrist. "So you're coming with us."

"Yeah, this room will be put to very good use," James nodded. "Might as well put us to good use, too."

"It's sort of all we're really good for," Sirius nodded.

"Speak for yourselves," Remus said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, lighten up, dear Remus, there is some fun to be had," James put his arm around Remus' shoulder and grinned.

For a flittering moment Hermione smiled. Suddenly, she felt as though something very heavy had fallen into her stomach. It wasn't until this very moment that she realized that all four of the young men standing in this room would be gone when she returned to her Hogwarts. All had fallen in some way during the Last War. Her eyes brimmed with tears for a moment. It didn't seem fair nor did it seem right that these four pairs of eyes would dull and close as the sweeping hands of death carried them away from their loved ones.

Sirius left behind Harry, sad and seemingly alone. Sirius was the only true father Harry could've had past the age of one. Hermione wiped at her tears as she remembered the pain in Harry's eyes; the complete surprise and inherent rage that came from losing someone entirely too early.

Another bomb dropped somewhere inside her. Remus died beside his new bride, Tonks and left Teddy to be cared for by Harry.

James fell protecting his family. He fell trying to allow time for his wife to escape with their son. He fell just before that red-headed beauty he was chasing did, protecting their child. How painful it must have been for James to see his own death coming in those red eyes. He died when he should have been protected by that little _rat_ Peter.

She wanted to tell them. She wanted to warn them. She wanted to tell James not to trust Peter Pettigrew when his life was on the line. But she couldn't. She just couldn't.

"Aw, fireball, don't go getting all teary on us," Sirius said and came to her side. He gave her a side hug and smiled. "You don't _have_ to hang out with us."

"It's not that," Hermione sniffed back her remaining tears and wiped her face clean. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Yeah, let's have fun."

How else could she experience all this? And she would have to stay here until she figured out how to get back, anyway, right? What if she never did? Could she stay here forever? She knew the answer but pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Harry. Harry I've done something awful," Ron said, wringing his hands in the Gryffindor common room. "I think I've killed Hermione."

Harry laughed for a moment but his laughter faded as he saw the seriousness in his friend's eyes. "What do you mean you've killed her?"

"We were down in the dungeons doing this spell... potion...some time reversal thing or something, I don't know what it was for but we were doing it and...I think I did something wrong because time didn't reverse... she's just gone." Ron finally stopped for a breath.

"Bloody hell, Ron," Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "You couldn't resist causing one more problem right before we're supposed to graduate, eh?"

"What are we going to do? I don't know what went wrong... oh, if only Hermione were here," Ron said, plopping down in the chair next to Harry.

"If Hermione were here this wouldn't be an issue at all but she's not. We better go to the headmaster with this," Harry shrugged and stood up. "I'm sure she'll be able to help."


End file.
